GOP Plan Would Roll Back Recurring Referendums for 130 Districts
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 19, 2017
Check out this coverage of the public hearing on AB 268 from Wisconsin Public Radio.
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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Wisconsin Redistricting Case
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 19, 2017
From WisPolitics.com …
The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear a challenge to Wisconsin’s Assembly district maps, setting up the prospect of the justices establishing a new standard for a map being too partisan.
The court will review a decision by a three-judge panel that ruled the maps Republicans drew in 2011 amounted to a partisan gerrymander. That panel of judges ordered Republicans to draw new maps by November so they can be in place by next year’s elections.
See the Wisconsin State Journal article here.
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Senate GOP Low Revenue Plan
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 19, 2017
Check out this article by Jason Stein in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel highlighting the Senate GOP approach to helping low revenue districts.
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Something to Consider About the Current Budget Debate
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 16, 2017
As we think about the provisions of the Assembly Education Plan, particularly the proposed increase in the low revenue ceiling and the impact the plan would have on the Governor’s proposed $200/$204 per pupil categorical aid increase, it is easy for us to envision the long-term positive impact for low-revenue districts to raise their per pupil revenue cap.
What about the long-term impact of reducing the per pupil categorical aid by $50 per pupil in the first year and $54 in the second year of the 2017-19 biennium?
The Assembly Education Plan would increase the per pupil categorical by $150 per pupil in 2017-18 and an additional $200 per pupil in 2018-19, not the $200/$204 proposed by the Governor. This results in a $50 per pupil reduction to the Governor’s proposal in 2017-18 and a $54 reduction in 2018-19 (and arguably every year thereafter in the per pupil categorical aid program).
Now that the per pupil categorical aid program has been a part of Wisconsin’s school finance landscape for the last several state budgets, many Capitol observers believe it has become a relatively permanent fixture of our school finance system. The higher you build the payment over time, the more difficult it is for politicians to repeal it or reduce it.
So then, assuming the per pupil categorical aid remains a fixture of the Wisconsin school finance system for the next decade, wouldn’t the “loss” of $50 +$54 per pupil in this budget equate to a ten-year “loss” of $536 per pupil? (That would be 9x$54 + $50 = $536)
Something to consider.
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SAA Members Oppose Referendum Bills at Hearings Yesterday
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | June 16, 2017
Superintendents Bruce Quinton (Pepin) and Ben Niehaus (Florence), as well as Don Hietpas, CFO of the Appleton Area School District, carried a powerful message of opposition to three referendum bills (AB 282, AB 268 and AB 269) at an extremely long public hearing held yesterday by the Assembly Committee on Education. Numerous school board members and other education advocates also expressed their opposition to these bills. In addition, SAA Executive Director John Forester delivered testimony that included a long-term perspective on Wisconsin school referenda using information produced by Robert W. Baird & Company for a recent conference presentation.
These SAA members, board members and advocates also opposed two of these referendum bills (SB 191 and SB 195) at a “hastily called” public hearing held by Senator Stroebel’s Senate Committee on Government Operations, Technology and Consumer Protection.
Hats off to Bruce, Ben and Don for their leadership and dedication. Yesterday was a long, grueling day in the State Capitol. But, the message delivered was a powerful one. Many thanks, gentlemen.
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